


The Rescuer

by supernaturallylost



Series: Rehabilitation [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Castiel & Sam Winchester Bonding, Comforting Sam, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homeless Castiel, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 17:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4400030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernaturallylost/pseuds/supernaturallylost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel wakes up early in the morning and decides that maybe leaving now would be better than owing such a large debt to the Winchester brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rescuer

Castiel woke up breathing heavily. His eyes opened immediately, and he saw a white popcorn ceiling above him. His heart raced in his chest, beating in his ears and his throat. With sweat along his forehead, he breathed in. There was too much air, too much space. He felt exposed, vulnerable, and small. Wheezing, he brought air shakily in through his mouth and out through his nose. The room was dark still.

“Calm down,” he told himself. “It’s alright.”

He blinked while his burning eyes watered. He held his breath and clenched his hands at his side. That’s when he realized that he wasn’t alone.

‘No,’ he thought to himself. ‘Not again.’

He waited to feel the itch on his arms, the burning on his face. He waited to feel the prod of someone’s feet on his hip. Out of habit, he squinted his eyes closed and held his breath. It would be over soon, he knew.

All that happened, however, was that the person near him sighed deeply and rolled over. Cas released his shaking breath and looked over. Light brown hair waved with Cas’s breaths. Dean sighed again in his sleep, stretching his hand in Cas’s. His arm was resting gently over Cas’s, holding onto him. Cas watched Dean’s eyes moving quickly behind his eyelids – dreaming. Slowly, Cas focused on Dean, ignoring everything else in the world.

Without a clue of how much time had passed, Cas heard a door creaking. He rolled his head to look, but Dean’s door remained closed. Outside of it were footsteps and a loud yawn.

“Sam,” Cas whispered to himself, remembering. After a second, he shook his head and thought, ‘What was I thinking?’

Slowly, he pulled Dean’s fingers from around his wrist and scooted off of the bed. When he stood up, his eyes were wide. He looked down and noticed a padded blue and green rug. Below him, his feet were red and bruised. He bit his lip and looked for his clothes. They were on a pile above the dresser in the closet, so he grabbed them and changed quickly.

Gingerly, Castiel opened the bedroom door and snuck into the hallway. After closing the door behind him, he looked to see where Sam was. Finding the bathroom door closed, he nodded. He walked to the kitchen and stared at the living room. Last night, he’d been so hesitantly comfortable playing games with the brothers. He smiled and remembered Sam’s light-hearted anger after he lost the game. When Cas looked at the kitchen, he saw the tiger lilies on the table and smiled. Then, slowly, reality interrupted and he knew that the flowers added to the price he owed them. He took a deep breath.

“You alright, man?” Sam asked. Cas jumped and Sam threw his hands in the air. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. What are you doing up? It’s only six, and you went to sleep late.”

Cas smiled guiltily and shrugged. “I’m not used to getting a lot of sleep.”

Sam nodded before looking Cas up and down. Then his expression softened and he walked to the coffee machine. Nonchalantly, he grabbed two mugs.

“Not to brag,” he started, “but I make the best coffee of everyone I know.”

Cas tried to smile while he glanced at the door. Sam placed the two full cups on the table and sat down, and looked pointedly from Cas to the chair in front of him. When Castiel sat, Sam slid the mug toward him and took a drink of his own.

“Mm,” he smiled. “Nothing like a nice cup of coffee before a jog. This is my guilty pleasure, for sure. The other fitness trainers would have blown a gasket if I told them about this.”

“Thank you, Sam,” Cas smiled. His eyes were tired, and he looked down at the table sadly.

Sam hummed while he drank the next few sips. Finally, he set down his cup and spoke plainly.

“You’re thinking about leaving,” he said simply. “If it’s too much, Cas, that’s alright. We’re not going to force you to stay with us if you don’t want to.”

Castiel shook his head, but Sam raised a hand.

“Listen, man,” he whispered. “We’ve been there, Cas. Dean and I can understand. He refused to get paid for his work for the first year with Bobby because he wanted to repay him. Dean is the most stubborn person on this planet, but even he was able to accept help eventually.”

“It’s not just the debt I’ll owe you both,” Cas groaned quietly. Cas continued to shake his head, rubbed the back of his neck, and sighed. “I come with a past, Sam, and I don’t want you two to be tangled into it.”

Sam glanced at Cas’s hands. He took a deep breath while Castiel looked at his coffee swirling in the mug.

“Cas,” he whispered. He scratched his wrist and looked down the hallway to make sure Dean was still asleep. Then he flipped the hair from his eyes. “Dean wouldn’t want me to tell you this, but here it goes.”

Cas frowned and watched Sam lean forward.

“When Dean was young, and I was an infant, our mom died in a fire. He remembers her a little bit, but I don’t recall her at all.” Sam swallowed hard. “Dean saved my life when I wasn’t able to help myself. That’s who he is, Cas. Dean wants to save people. If you have a past, I guarantee there is no one better for you to be near than Dean. I know I tease him a lot, and I can take him in a fight if I have to, but that man can take a physical or metaphorical punch. Dean is strong, and he’s clever, and he’s kind.”

Cas’s brows furrowed and he bit his lip.

“Your past is a part of you, man,” Sam continued. He took a deep breath. “Dean’s past made him a rescuer, and it made him kind. My past made me incredible at Mario Kart and making coffee.”

Cas smiled in spite of himself, though his eyes remained tight with anxiety.

“My point is,” Sam grinned, “this is the best place for you. You don’t have to stay here, and we won’t make you. I just suggest you think twice about what’s best for yourself and go for that, Cas. What I can say is that Dean looked very pleased when you agreed to stay. Between you and me, I think he has a thing for you.”

Cas blushed and said, “Last night was our first date.”

Sam’s mouth turned into a wide ‘o’, and he leaned back in his chair. He nodded happily. “That explains a lot. I thought he just invited you over – he does that sometimes – but that didn’t explain why he kept looking at you like that. He isn’t much for invading personal space, either, but he doesn’t seem to mind with you. What’d you do to him, Cas?”

Cas blushed redder and shrugged. “I fell asleep on his shoulder on the bus.”

Sam nodded. Slowly, he drank the rest of his coffee and let go of a deep breath. Then he stood up, placed his mug in the sink, and reached into a cupboard full of books. He pulled down one with a red and white checkered cover.

“Dean likes pie,” he smirked, placing the cookbook in front of Cas. “Try not to burn down the house. He’ll be up in three hours.”

Cas smiled, his eyes watering.

“Thank you, Sam,” he said quietly. “Really.”

Sam placed a hand on Cas’s shoulder while grabbing his reusable water bottle from the counter.

“Talk to Dean,” he suggested. “He’s a good listener, and he obviously cares about you.”

Cas flushed while Sam filled his water and waved. The apartment door opened and closed, and Cas looked down at the cookbook and took a deep breath.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! If you have any comments, please let me know!


End file.
